Artificial lures have long been used to attract and catch fish. Although the effectiveness of fishing lures traditionally depends upon their appearance and action in the water, some prior art lures include a dischargeable attractant to further improve their performance. More particularly, as such a lure is drawn through water, the attractant is discharged and disperses through the water, increasing the likelihood that nearby fish will strike the lure.
A variety of different attractants have been used to increase the effectiveness of fishing lures in this manner. For example, solid and liquid attractants have been employed, depending upon a variety of factors, including the technique used to discharge the attractant and the conditions under which the lure will be used. The manner in which attractants enhance the desirability of the lure to fish has also varied. For example, scented attractants have been used to stimulate the sense of smell in fish near the lure. Many natural and synthetic products, including fish oils and anise, can be used as scented attractants. Other attractants have also been used to make the lure more visually appealing to nearby fish. For example, colored liquid can be discharged from the fishing lure to attract the attention of nearby fish.
Like the different attractants, a variety of different methods have been employed to couple the attractant to the fishing lure. For example, the exterior of an artificial lure, such as a plastic worm, is sometimes treated with a scented attractant to improve the lure's effectiveness. This treatment is typically performed by dipping a portion or the entirety of the lure in a quantity of a liquid attractant. Alternatively, where the surface of the lure includes a plurality of small cavities, solid attractant can be applied to the lure's exterior and compacted in the cavities, allowing at least some of the scented material to disperse through the water.
As an alternative to the use of attractant on the lure's exterior, various approaches have been developed for discharging attractant from the interior of the lure. For example, hollow lures have been designed for receiving scented solids or scented liquids in a solid matrix. Such lures include a plurality of small openings between the interior and exterior of the lure, allowing water to flow through the lure and disperse at least some of the scented material.
In other embodiments, a liquid attractant is stored in a chamber controllably coupled to a fishing line attached to the lure. The fishing line is connected to a mechanism for controlling the volume of the chamber, an outlet of the chamber, or both. By applying tension to the fishing line, the outlet of the chamber can be opened and its volume reduced, thereby discharging attractant to the surrounding water.
Although each of these prior art arrangements enhances lure performance, they suffer a number of disadvantages. For example, when the exterior of the lure is provided with attractant, the fisherman typically has no control over the rate or manner of attractant dispersion. This is particularly true when solid attractant is applied to the exterior of the lure because the attractant may easily be dislodged by the force of the water against the lure or by a fish biting or "striking" the lure. The use of solid attractant inside a hollow, perforated lure body also provides the fisherman with little control over the attractant's discharge rate. The fisherman can only select different attractants and place varying amounts of attractant inside the lure body.
Similarly, embodiments that employ line tension to control the discharge of liquid attractants are inadequate. More particularly, when a fish strikes the lure, the tension in the line will increase, discharging attractant. The occurrence and duration of this discharge is both beyond the fisherman's control and unnecessary, given that the fish has already struck.
In view of the preceding remarks, it would be desirable to provide a fishing lure that can discharge attractant at a controlled rate not dependent, for example, upon line tension or fish interaction. It would be particularly desirable to provide such a lure allowing the discharge of attractant to be controlled in an adjustable manner by the fisherman.